• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Dec. 30 Fortune Park Hotels, an arm of ITC Ltd, plans to go ahead with its expansion despite the downturn by opening 27 new hotels in the next 24 months.

“Though the hotel industry is hit hard by the economic slowdown and recent terror strikes in Mumbai, we are optimistic about the future,” Mr Pawan Verma, Senior Executive Vice-President (Hotels Division), ITC Ltd, said at a press conference to announce the opening of ‘Fortune Select Manohar’ here.

“We had planned 52 Fortune hotels earlier. Of this, 25 properties (including the new one at Hyderabad) have been opened. The remaining 27 will also be launched,” he said.

“Until six months ago, 28 new hotels were on the cards in Hyderabad alone. I don’t know how many of them are still on but Fortune will be opening another hotel in Banjara Hills soon,” he added.

On the industry scenario, Mr Verma said: “In the last one month, the occupancy in luxury hotels has fallen from 80-85 per cent to 20-25 per cent, though situation in budget hotels is somewhat better.”.

Mr D.V. Manohar, Chairman and Managing Director of Shri Shakti Resorts & Hotels Ltd, said over Rs 30 crore was invested in remodelling the building with modern amenities. “We have opened 125 rooms for guests, including 24 luxury suites,” he said.

More Stories on : New Projects | Hotels

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line